Here we are again at the beginning of another school year. An old Staples commercial used the Christmas song, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” to describe how parents feel about this season of supply lists, schedules, and sports tryouts.

While I am not careening through the aisles gleefully, I will admit to a certain excitement about the start of the new school year– but not for the reason you may think. While I always look forward to getting back to the “routine” of concrete bedtimes, homework, and yes, less junk food, the real reason I love the start of the school year is this: It’s the perfect time for New Year’s Resolutions. You might be thinking I’m about 8 months late on this. So if it helps, we’ll call this “School Year’s Resolution” instead. Read more

The end of summer is fast approaching. It feels like I was just getting off the plane in Anchorage, ready to start the summer off and now I’m preparing to return to Virginia Beach and Regent for my senior year of college. The anticipation builds. I don’t know what the new year will bring. It’s as if I’m waiting for a roller coaster to lurch forward–there is a knowledge of what will come, but knowing what the ride is like and actually going on it are two different things. Read more

This week was not an easy one for me and my family. We spent the week in mourning as my grandmother made her transition to her eternal home in Heaven. While I can honestly say that I nor my family grieve as others might grieve who have no hope, it is no less disheartening knowing that the presence of my grandmother is no longer with us physically. In traveling back to my home in Baltimore, Maryland, I took note of the many changes that had taken place, not only in the geography, but also in many of the people that I have known over the years. Read more

Hey readers! I hope your summer is going swimmingly (pun intended)! This summer, I’m focusing largely on this blog and my personal blog, along with gaining support and sponsors for the charity I am involved with. Every summer I find myself stuck in the house with nothing to do, having surrendered to the oppressive heat outside. I thought it was time to actually do something productive!

I am a child ambassador for World Vision International. We provide kids and communities in poverty with the resources to start building a decent infrastructure in their area. I’ve been sponsoring a child in Costa Rica since last April. She’s six years old and is entering the 1st grade. Her dad is a farm laborer and doesn’t make enough to send her or her sisters to school. Having learned this, I stepped in. A few months later, I applied to be an ambassador. I was accepted and given the task of finding sponsors for 10 kids a year. At first, I thought this would be the easiest thing I’ve ever done! However, I was so wrong. Read more

A long time ago, WAY back in 2002, Rick Warren published a book simply titled, “The Purpose Driven Life.” Since then, the book has become the bestselling hardback non-fiction book in history, and is the second most-translated book in the world, after the Bible. Apparently, there are a LOT of people who want to know what their purpose is, and also how to live according to that purpose.

Businesses often outline a purpose, usually referred to as their “mission statement.” Regent University’s mission statement is: “[To serve] as a center of Christian thought and action to provide excellent education through a Biblical perspective and global context equipping Christian leaders to change the world.”

What about you? Do you have purpose statement? Do you believe that you have a purpose to your life?

The Bible says you do. God designed you with a purpose in mind. Yes, God designed you with a broad, global purpose (to worship Him and glorify Him) but also a very specific purpose–one that only you can accomplish. Read more

My family and I recently visited nearby Mt. Trashmore. It’s a local park with all sorts of activities you can participate in. There are trails where you can literally walk around the “mountain.,” which is actually a large man-made hill that used to be a landfill (thus the name). There’s a lake and all sorts of food trucks with unimaginable treats. You have a spot where live concerts can entertain you, as well as a play area where kids of all ages can run and play around until their little hearts are content. My children even climbed a couple miniature mountains that were designed just for them.

While my family and I were there, one of the things I observed was the number of people who went up the actual mountain. Some chose to go up the steepest part, while others went up the side with the easier path. There were those who chose to take the stairs, while others only went as far as the middle point. Then you had some who went to that same middle spot, took a breather, and then went on their way to reach the top.

It reminded me how each of us has a choice in life. We all face mountains in our lives. Some of us will face it head on and run head long for the top while others will choose to stagger their trek. There will be some who will go part way and rest before going the distance. The greatest thing that you can do when you are facing a mountain is making the decision to do it.

Each year, thousands of students are choosing to come to Regent University with various goals, whether it’s to give themselves a better life and career, to get equipped to change a nation in the call that God has put in their heart, or to discover who they really are as a person. Whatever the reason may be, understand that it all begins with making a decision.

You don’t have to face the mountain in some cookie cutter way. The way God set things up for me isn’t and won’t be the same way God sets it up for someone else. We each see the beginning of the journey and know that there is a pinnacle to reach. There are great people we’ll meet on our climb, and the pace is attainable. I encourage you today to see the mountain, not as a mission impossible, but as wholly attainable. No matter what challenges have been put before you, with the right perspective, and a determined heart, you can make it.

The red double doors of the Chapel building are propped open and soft music plays as people flock into the sanctuary of Regent’s Chapel. Smiling student volunteers stand in the aisles and welcome incoming guests as they greet one another and make their way to their seats. The music stops, the congregation prays, worship begins, and in a matter of minutes the speaker steps behind the podium and the message begins. Up to this point, it seems to be a typical University Chapel. However, this is not the case.

During the school year Regent hosts its University Chapel every Wednesday afternoon from noon to 1pm in the Chapel building. It is a time for Regent University staff, faculty, and students to come together for a time of prayer, worship, and fellowship as they devote one hour of their workday to the Lord and celebrating the Body of Christ. Speakers include local pastors and leaders, such as Dr. Paul Hardy, as well as international speakers like Heidi Baker and Bishop T.D. Jakes. It is a wonderful time to come together and glean from men and women all over the world and how God is moving in and through them.

The Fourth of July is a day of commemoration, as well as celebration. It’s the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed, making us a nation separate from England. It is also a day where many take the time to honor and remember those people who have served and died to protect our nation and our freedom as Americans.

Several people in my family have volunteered themselves to military service and have instilled into the younger generations an appreciation for that sacrifice. But as I was reflecting on this holiday that we know as Independence Day, I found myself going a little deeper than the top layer of patriotism, fireworks, and good food and focused instead on a more… spiritual meaning behind the day. Read more

Hello readers and students! I’m writing this from a hotel in northern Virginia where I am preparing to begin my eighth internship! I’m a senior at Regent and majoring in communications with a minor in leadership studies. I started college in 2010 and lived on campus in Virginia Beach for a year and a half before accepting my first internship in Arlington, Va., halfway through my sophomore year.

You might be wondering how I’ve been able to do so many internships and keep up with school. It’s pretty simple, actually. Regent has a nifty online program that I have been lucky enough to participate in that allows me to intern wherever I want. My internships have taken me all over the country to places like California, Florida, Rhode Island, and elsewhere. While building an amazing resume, I’ve been able to learn online with great professors and classmates. It takes so much commitment and drive to keep up with everything, but God has a great future for me and I have to do all I can to achieve what I was meant to.

As I mentioned earlier, my internships have been all over the place. My first internship was at the Leadership Institute in Virginia. They took a big chance with me. I was the youngest intern, no experience, and a sophomore. I ended up flourishing there and impressing my superiors. I worked in the online programs department writing scripts for short webinars, helping produce webinars, and fulfilling other little intern tasks.

After this, I moved on to another small organization in Alexandria, Va., where I helped run events. The company even sent me to Rhode Island to help run a major conference for a long weekend. The best thing about this internship was that it led me to my next one, which was by far the most difficult to get. I applied to the Koch Internship Program where I was given about 5 interviews to test my knowledge of economics and free market systems. It was grueling. After I was accepted, I spent Tuesdays at the headquarters in D.C., and every other day of the week at the American Council for Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). I was there in fall 2012 which also happened to be the year they awarded Regent with an ‘A’ rating in their core curriculum.

Spring 2013 took me to Disney World. I signed up to be an intern in their college program. This was the most unpleasant internship experience. Why? Because customer service is particularly challenging when people are on vacation and have several exhausted children with them. I won’t go into detail but I’m sure you can picture it.

During each of these internships I was a full-time student. Believe me when I say that juggling the two is difficult. I don’t have time to go out after work with friends or spend the weekends sightseeing; this is the price I pay for having a strong resume when I leave college. Each internship is giving me experience that companies want to see. We all know that jobs are scarce now, so anything that might look good on a resume, I jump at the chance to do.

Ultimately, I do not want to work for a company; I want to run a company. One thing that internships and even college has taught me is that I don’t like answering to anyone else. I want to be my own boss. That’s the good thing about multiple internships: you learn what you like and don’t like.

This coming fall is my last semester at Regent and here’s hoping it’s a good one! Like my predecessors, walking across the stage to accept my diploma will be invigorating and another chapter to close in my life. But after that I’ll be thrown into the real world to find a full-time job instead of a part-time internship. Frankly, it’s scary and I’m dreading it, but we all have to grow up sometime.

I’ve spent my entire life with a chronic illness known as Sickle Cell Anemia. I, like my father before me who died when I was only eight years old, have faced many hardships. But God has been very gracious in that He has not allowed me to endure as many other who are like me. My personal trials have included severe leg ulcers that have prevented me from walking for months at a time; chronic joint pain that caused debilitating swelling in my hand as a child, often to three times the normal size; and I also have pulmonary hypertension, medical speak for high blood pressure in my lungs, which makes it difficult to pump oxygen throughout my body. Read more